1 Mar 2016

NEW RULE CHANGE YET TO MAKE IT’S MARK ON WALSH

Holder of two Celtic crosses
and three all-stars during a fruitful career operating at midfield for Galway,
current manager Kevin Walsh is no stranger to the congested midfield zone.

In 1998 Walsh’s partner at
midfield was Sean O’Domhnaill, a man equally as imposing in terms of size and
sheer power.

Goalkeeper Martin McNamara,
equipped with trademark rugby boots thumped the ball out. Distance was
the order of the day and variation simply meant switching between his two
imposing targets at midfield.

When the 2001 All-Ireland success
came, the ‘keeper was now Alan Keane with a similar approach, but this time
Walsh’s midfield partner was the more mobile and athletic Michael
Donnellan. The tide was starting to turn even back then towards mobility.

On Sunday Manus Breathnach varied
his kickouts with great effect finding an uncontested maroon jersey on ten
occasions, three of which were a simple poke towards a defender in
space.

James Kielt and Tom Flynn grabbed
a few breath-taking catches during Sunday’s Celtic Park encounter that will be
classed as marks this time next year.

In the aftermath of congress,
Walsh was undecided about the adoption of the mark. "To be honest,
we will have to wait and see. I'm not so sure I am behind it but I could
be proved wrong.”

The Killanin clubman spoke about
a second aspect of the high catch, one that was lost on last weekend’s GAA
decision makers.

“An even a bigger part of the
skill was landing with the ball and learning how to get yourself into space,”
commented Walsh.

“It’s knowing how to and learning
how to lever off [an opponent] with the other hand,” something he relished in
the physical battles across his own playing career.

The ruling won’t prevent teams
working the short kickout if their opponents don’t press up to shut down any
options. It was brought in to promote the high catch and reward it.

Unless players go back to the
basics, with countless hours perfect their hang time and catch with rebounds
off gable walls across the country, nothing will change.

Unless managers have men who can
regularly outfield their opponents, the more measured strategies will be
preserved.

Possession is key.
Jim Gavin will still target the pocket of space created by Paul Flynn’s decoy
run or Rory Gallagher will use Frank McGlynn’s lung busting runs to build from
defence.

In the past scavengers awaited
the elegant fielder of the ball and hounded him when he came back to the
ground. Spoiling will continue but in the form of more players going out
to break the ball.

Even if players are strong enough
to make the spectacular catch, Walsh isn’t convinced. “I would have my
worries that the mark might slow the game down and take away the other skill of
making space.”